In Another Universe
by illman
Summary: Elizabeth is forced to make a decision between stealing the ZPM of the planet from Childhood's End in a time where nearly all of the ZPM from Atlantis is gone and another attack from the Wraith is coming, or don't and doom them all! ONESHOT.


Title: In Another Universe  
Author: Illman  
Category: gen, future fic, AU  
Warnings: none  
Spoilers: small ones Childhood's End  
Rating: PG / FRT  
Disclaimer: It's not my universe.  
Author's Notes: Written for littleknux2008 for the Weir Ficathon on livejournal. Beta by imskysmom and Zoie.  
Challenge: Elizabeth is forced to make a decision between stealing the ZPM of the planet from "Childhood's End" in a time where nearly all of the ZPM from Atlantis is gone and another attack from the Wraith is coming, or don't and doom them all!

* * *

She tells Grodin that she doesn't want to be disturbed and locks her office from the inside.

Her desk is cluttered with files: mission reports cataloguing dozens of fruitless attempts to find a new ZPM now that their own is virtually drained; Dr. Zelenka's report on energy usage in the City; Dr. McKay's analysis of their current defence capabilities which is restricted to the Jumpers; a file full of daily updates on the position of the nearest Hive Ships, they are coming nearer ever day.

She clears away all the files. She doesn't need them, she has read them all, she knows the situation they are in. The Wraith are coming for them again and they are defenceless. They have never found another ZPM in all their time in the Pegasus galaxy. Or rather, they never found another available ZPM. There are ZPMs out there and they have gotten close, very close at times, but never close enough. Everyone knows how desperate the situation is. For two months, their only goal has been finding a ZPM. It didn't feel right putting the sole focus of the expedition on locating one of the Ancient energy sources. It's not what they came here to do, they didn't come to another galaxy to scramble to survive.

She knows she isn't to blame for that. Everyone knew when they signed on that they were stepping into the unknown. There were no guarantees that it would all work out in the end. She is rather amazed how well it has worked out for them. Finding Atlantis virtually waiting for them was more than they could ever have hoped for. 10,000 years had gone by and the City didn't seem to have aged a day, only the plants bore tribute to the millennia that had passed, she recalls her impression of the early days in the Ancient City. They've had good times and bad times in the past three years. They have lost more people than she thinks they can afford, but they have gone on. Slowly but surely, they have explored and discovered the gigantic city, but she is still clinging to her secrets and McKay and his team have been working on some of the technology found in hidden rooms for months without success. The Wraith are still a threat, twice they have attacked Atlantis before, twice they have survived with considerable losses. Now they are moving against Atlantis again.

She tries to retrace the past three years, find the seams and joints and see where it went wrong, but she can't find it. The balance of power in the Pegasus Galaxy had been established long before their arrival. The Wraith might sleep every few centuries, but they were the domineering force, curtailing populations, controlling their development, spreading terror and fear. The Atlantis expedition had entered as a new player, but merely a new target for the Wraith. The Wraith are unlike any other enemy, they cannot be reasoned with, they don't care about land, resources or power. They are only driven by their hunger. She really is the wrong person to deal with them. There are no treaties to be worked out when it comes to the Wraith. Just deadly force. That's one thing the Pegasus Galaxy has taught her. She hopes it doesn't apply to humans as well.

Nothing but brutal force is going to keep the Wraith from invading Atlantis in five days. But she has the power to stop them. If you can't find a ZPM, steal one. It's such a bad idea, it never occurred to her. Sheppard was the one who came up with it. Rodney immediately backed him up. In a way she wished he had never thought of it. If he hadn't she wouldn't be facing this calamity right now.

* * *

It had been a long day. Waiting can be exhausting, but she should be used to it by now. Today everyone came back home safely. A week ago, they were not so lucky. It had been a long wait, the team had been thirty hours overdue, four attempts to contact them had met with failure. There had been nothing to foresee any problems, and the possibility of finding a new ZPM is worth every risk. That's the official line these days and she is sticking to it. It wasn't easy as the hours passed, but she didn't waver. Finally, shortly after the thirty hour mark, Major Sheppard and his team came through the Gate, stumbling and falling, spilling out into the Gate room injured and empty handed.

She could hear Rodney pounded on the keyboard of his laptop as soon as she entered the infirmary. He was sitting propped up in bed, trying to type with one hand. She swallowed the rising guilt as her gaze slid over his bandaged right hand. Crushed bones and damaged nerves. It was doubtful whether he would regain full functionality.

A ZPM was worth every risk.

Major Sheppard had agreed with her. She seriously doubted he would agree now, a shattered ankle and a cracked skull later. But she didn't ask.

"I know where we can get a ZPM." he said, sounding tired.

Rodney stopped mutilating the keyboard.

"M4X-703." Sheppard closed his eyes, his job done.

"Yes, Major. I'm surprised I didn't come up with it first." Rodney said, slightly disappointed.

It took her a moment to process, before she realized what he meant.

"No, we can't." It's a knee-jerk reaction.

"Think about it, Elizabeth. We are never going to find a ZPM in five days. We have no idea where to look. We know the Genii have at least one, but there is no way in hell we are going to steal one from them. This is the only reasonable thing to do!" Rodney argued, his laptop forgotten.

"It's not reasonable to steal a ZPM from a virtually defenceless people. We have no right to condemn them to death."

"And you have the right to condemn us to death?"

* * *

Morally she certainly doesn't have the right to make the decision over life and death. The fact is that she has to make the decision. For the first time, it is her who is directly deciding who lives and who dies. She has saved lives before, lives on paper and she has made command decisions that might have saved lives. But it has never been like this.

A ZPM justifies every risk, she said it herself, but does it justify every decision?

Taking the ZPM away from them, they would be no better than any of the other races out there, no better than the Genii. They are human, something screams in her, they shouldn't do this.

But what is human? Every life form is driven by the basic instinct to survive. When it comes down to the wire, ethics are forgotten quickly. But is there really a choice?

She gets up to pace her office.

There is the alpha site. After months of search a planet had been located that satisfies all major requirements. But they wouldn't have enough shelter for everyone, their food would run out within weeks, then they would have to rely on hunting and gathering edibles. It would be virtually impossible to sustain a population the size of the Atlantis expedition. The Wraith could come back for them any time. They would be lucky to survive on the alpha site, but everything they had come for to this galaxy, everything they had found here and worked on for the past three years would be lost. Atlantis would fall into the hands of the Wraith. Rodney is fairly certain he could irrecoverably destroy the dialing system, preventing the Wraith from ever reaching Earth, but there remains a risk that the Wraith might manage to rebuild the device and successfully dial Earth or any other planet in the Milky Way. There is no way around it, they cannot lose Atlantis.

She sits back down. She would order her people to evacuate to the alpha site without hesitation, if there was a guarantee that they could keep the Wraith away from Earth. But the guarantee isn't there and no one can give it to her. She has to order a team to M4X-703 to retrieve the ZMP. Retrieve. It's a euphemism of the worst kind. They are going to steal it. And while there is no doubt that they are going to get what they want, P-90s will win over bows and arrows, it's going to be awful. Innocents will die for their survival and she can't do it. She can't give the order to bring the ZPM home at all costs.

She's terrified when she realizes that she has crossed that border already. The moment she said that a ZPM was worth every risk that was the moment she made her decision. The major knows that, he has seen through her, or maybe for him there was never a choice in the first place.

She wants him to be right. It would make it so much easier to step outside and give the order. She is going to do it. But she knows that she could have done differently. She is about to destroy a culture, leave them to be feed upon by the Wraith. Maybe, in another universe, she found a different way out.


End file.
